The trial of the stepfather and mother of little Mélinda, who died of scalding at 19 months in 2016 after months of ill-treatment, opened on Monday, October 5, before the Assizes du Nord, in Douai.
Accused of knowingly having poured hot water on her body, the companion of the mother of the girl, Jason Odin, 21 years old at the time of the facts, is tried for "torture or barbaric act resulting in death" and incurs life imprisonment.
Read also: Infanticide in the Tarn: the mother and her companion condemned
Blows, ice baths, bucket of dog excrement poured on the child: the young man is also suspected of having mistreated Mélinda for months after his meeting with Ana Maria Barbosa De Sousa.
This woman, aged 31 at the time, is judged for not having prevented the actions of her companion and for having deprived her child of care, during this fatal night as in previous months.
On May 18, 2016, around 2:30 p.m., Mélinda, 19 months old, died in a pavilion in Neuf-Mesnil (North), 80% burned and after a long agony.
The night before, he had been given a bath in almost boiling water.
Faced with the accused: Mélinda's father, her paternal and maternal grandparents, and two child protection associations who wonder about the "
lack of reaction
" from social services.
The mother had already been convicted of mistreating another child, her daughter Joulia, who died in 2013 from beatings by her godfather.
When Mélinda died, she was indicted in this case.
The accused faces 30 years of criminal imprisonment, their host five years of imprisonment.
The verdict is expected Monday, October 12.
